Oke Eleazu and Maria Herrero-Bullich join Scottish Widows’ Independent Governance Committee

19 May 2025

Scottish Widows has announced today that Oke Eleazu and Maria Herrero-Bullich have been appointed to its Independent Governance Committee (IGC). 

Customer service and digital transformation expert Oke becomes a new member as Clare Goldie-Scot steps down in the coming months after five years. 

Oke is a strong advocate of exceptional customer experience with a diverse career spanning financial services, retail, healthcare and housing. He started as an accountant with Legal & General and later managed Prudential’s DB and DC administration. Oke was instrumental in establishing ManyPets, a general insurance provider with a digital-first focus, where he held senior executive positions. 

Beyond financial services, he has held various customer-centric roles and founded consultancy Think Outside In, dedicated to enhancing customer experience strategies and cultures. Passionate about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Oke recently established social enterprise – Elevate Colour – to help businesses strengthen their strategy and DEI agenda. 

Maria Herrero-Bullich, Chief Customer & Digital Officer at Scottish Widows has been appointed to the IGC as a provider-nominated member.

Maria joined Scottish Widows last year and in her current role she is responsible for driving Scottish Widows’ customer strategy by transforming the digital customer experience and creating new ways to engage with customers to meet their needs. 

Before she joined Scottish Widows, Maria held a number of leadership positions in the insurance industry focused on growing life, motor and home business across direct channels. 

Anna Bradley, Independent Chair of the Scottish Widows IGC, said: “Oke and Maria bring expertise of customer-first approaches from across multiple sectors which will bring a new dimension to the IGC discussion. We are very excited to have them on board joining the already-underway Scottish Widows’ digital evolution.

“We are extremely grateful to Clare for her work over the last few years and thank her for her commitment and input which have made a lasting valuable contribution to the committee.”

Oke said: “I am excited to be bringing my wider customer focus to the role and playing my part within the IGC to help ensure members receive good outcomes and value for money for their pension savings.”

Maria said: “I’m passionate about continuing to evolve what we do for our customers and working with the IGC to make sure we not only provide the best experience when they deal with us, but to maximise the potential of their retirement savings.” 

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About Scottish Widows

Founded in 1815, Scottish Widows is part of Lloyds Banking Group, the UK’s largest digital bank and financial services group. With more than £232bn assets under administration and 10 million customers, Scottish Widows’ award‐winning product range includes workplace and individual pensions, annuities, life cover, critical illness and income protection, as well as savings and investment products.

More than 2 million customers access Scottish Widows products and services through the Lloyds Bank and Scottish Widows apps, in addition to accessing directly through independent financial advisers. The Scottish Widows Platform is trusted by more than 18,000 advisers and 5,400 advice firms, that manage the pensions and investments of almost 166,000 clients.